How to reduce premiums amidst rising health care prices?
If anything this pandemic has taught us, it is the importance of health. The phrase “Health is wealth” has gained its long lost recognition. While maintaining health is crucial, having health insurance is essential all the more. Without health insurance cover, hospital bills can leave a severe dent in your savings.
Over the years, the premiums on health insurance have increased significantly. There are many reasons behind this increment. One is the rising health care costs making it challenging to keep up with the expenses. Premiums also increase as you get older, if you have developed any illness over the years or had any previous claims.
Here are a few ways in which you can bring down premium expenses on your health care insurance:
- Start early
Buying insurance while you are young and in good health will cost lower premiums. It is a long term strategy where you will get no-claim bonuses and loyalty. These bonuses will eventually reduce your premium costs.
2. Buy a top-up
If you have a basic plan providing limited coverage and want to buy a plan with higher coverage, buying another plan will be costly. Instead, you can opt for a top-up to your primary plan, which will cost less than the premium expense on two basic plans.
3. Make full use of the wellness discounts
Health insurance companies are providing additional discounts to promote good health and an active lifestyle. For example, some insurance companies will give you points for your daily steps or calories burned in a day. They also provide free consultation, discounts on health checkups, pharmacy discounts. All these benefits can reduce your cost by 40% approximately.
4. Use co-pay and deductibles
Co-payment is an option where the insurance company will pay 10–15% of your premiums. A deductible option is to pay a fixed amount, while the insurance company will bear the rest. Both of these options will reduce your premiums and expenses considerably.
5. Take a family insurance
Choosing group insurance rather than one single insurance will cost much less. Many insurance companies provide discounts on family insurance and will also reduce administrative costs. Remember to exclude grandparents and parents above the age of 60, as premium costs depend on the age of the oldest member in the group. Including grandparents in your plan will increase premiums expenses considerably.
6. Purchase a plan online
Many insurance companies will give you an attractive deal if you buy an insurance plan directly from their website. This eliminates the agency costs which you and the company have to pay to the insurance agent.
Effectively applying any of these points will reduce the premium costs. However, it is not prudent to choose cheaper insurance with low coverage.
Health is important, and so is the right insurance plan.
